Because...the exoskelton design does not disperse energy in a collision, so that energy is transfered to the Nazis in the cabin.

While Musk sold the idea of bulletproof windows, those would be illegal because EMTs could not use then in an emergency. Side windows are supposed to break. His syncophants at Tesla were too scared to tell him his idea was stupid, so he threw a bearing through the window live.

Sure, but it's the "thought" that counts.

Probably because they think seatbelts are woke.

You clearly don't know many fairly well-off (or aspirationally well-off) women / mothers, if this is surprising to you.

Its not a theory. Its... many of them will just tell you that, verbatim, if you ask them.

"I just don't feel safe in a smaller car."

Its a primary component of the marketing angle the US entire auto industry has been using to market to 'the affluent careerist modern woman' / 'responsible and practical mom' for ... two decades now?

Big car = You are safe.

(and stylish or powerful or practical or eco-conscious or rugged or w/e other adjective)

For moms, an SUV is a minivan from the 90s, but with more style and performance.

For yuppie women, an SUV is a luxury sedan or coupe, but tank-sized, more authority commanding, more intimidating.

(Modern US SUVs are routinely as large or larger than actual M4 Sherman tanks from WW2, sans cannon barrel, if you go by volume, 'bounding box')

... I'm surprised that you're surprised by this.

With women truck drivers, I can understand that somewhat more, as you apparently just don't know too many white trash women, who are disproportionately Republican.

Makes sense here on lemmy.

For the entire MAGA type of people, well, trucks are real cars, everything else is "gay" or at least not as strong, or capable.

... even though that hardly ever actually is the case in any kind of practical or realistic terms.

Its all marketing, all appealing to the consumer, in ways said consumer both does and does not realize they are being appealed to.

It's all about how buying, "owning", and operating some kind of vehicle makes you feel, and what your exact choice, what message you think that sends to other people.

Here, I found this after writing my first section, and its almost verbatim what I said:

https://agirlsguidetocars.com/women-driving-suv-sales

Safety matters most for women

Married and single women love SUVs for many reasons. They are multi-purpose and, depending on your needs, come in varying sizes. If you have a family, an SUV is easy to drive and still provides room for the kids, the soccer balls and your groceries – and it’s so much cooler than a minivan.

For single women, the same multi-purpose features are attractive. The interior of an SUV is spacious and the elevation in the vehicle provides a better view of the road. The SUVs are also durable, reliable and most of all safe. And safety ranks higher with women than with men. Maybe it’s our nurturing nature – whether we’re nurturing our kids or our friends.

Yeah that's from 2016.

This has just been how SUV marketing in particular has worked basically since I got out of high school. almost 20 years ago now.

People are sold on the idea that bigger vehicles are safer. Complete lie:

1. They take longer distances to stop

2. They do not have to meet safety standards of cars due to a regualtory loophole.

3. They flip much easier because of the high centre of mass, and this is worse with stuff in the truck. It gets much worse with the lifting trend. So lifters then space out the wheels, which is not what the suspension was designed for and suspension arms and hubs crack.

4. Some have 16 ft front blind spots, people are running over their own children in driveways.

5. They are worse in snow and ice, because chunky man tires are not winter rated and heavier vehicles slide off roads easier.

the middle aged white woman with bleached blonde hair and designer clothes in a big white SUV is such an interesting trend

This honestly sounds likely. My step-mother, in the 80s, said something like this when she got an SUV (before the term had even kicked in). She felt safer and more confident being higher than the rest of the traffic. I "get it", but it's a race to the bottom (or top?). Maybe if they get tall enough, some of us can get ultra efficient and low profile wedge shaped cars and just dodge underneath these gigantic abominations.

Completely legal.

You gotta be kidding! Quote from the dutch -mandatory- annual car inspection (known as APK) which is actually an European directive, So it applies to every EU country

External safety including wheel and side guards 

1. Passenger cars must not have sharp parts 
that could pose a risk of personal injury 
to other road users in the event of a collision.

Fortunately my Mazda 3 is over a decade old and the headlights are actually too dim if anything. I need to polish the housings too. It sucks to hear that they are jumping on the annoying blinding headlight bandwagon along with some other brands though. They seem to do a lot of little things right in their designs.

I've posted a couple times about how I load 8' dimensional lumber into my Mazda3 as well, lol. Usually the people around me are driving their giant trucks and not loading jack shit into them.

Here is Western Europe. It's not variable. It's the new limit for everyone. 30 kph popping up everywhere now.